Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Release date: December 2nd, 2010
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 372
Source: Purchased from B&N
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Yes, I know. I am way behind. I should have read this book as soon as it was released. I think I was afraid that I would hate this book, as I have a tendency to dislike books that are this insanely popular. I did not. Anna and the French Kiss was exactly as good as everyone said, and I kinda want to kick myself for not reading it sooner.

Anna was the perfect narrator for this story. She's this amazing mix of innocent and naive yet fun and fiery, and she really had me feeling like I was experiencing Paris with her. It can't be easy being shipped off to a strange city in a foreign country by no choice of your own, by a father who cares more about what it does to his image than what it does to his daughter, yet Anna has more of a backbone than what it first seems, and she handles the transition remarkably well.

Étienne. "His name coats my tongue like melting chocolate." Has there ever been a more swoon-worthy guy? His adorable British accent, his messy, dark brown hair, his laughter and his phone calls and his laughter and his friendship, and I just fell head over heels in love with him. Sure, he's got his insecurities, he's not perfect, and he makes some wrong choices along the way, but it really just made him even better. 

And Paris. City of love, city of lights. The setting was such a huge part of this story, and Stephanie Perkins really did Paris justice. From the street vendors selling crêpes to the countless movie theaters, to the obligatory visit to the Eiffel Tower, it was everything I wanted it to be and then some. (I am going to Paris in July. Needless to say, I now have a bunch of notes of places I want to see. Heck, the hotel I'm staying at is only a couple of blocks away from Anna's school!)

This really is one of those books where a review will never do the book justice, so instead of me telling you again how adorably sweet and cute and fun and perfect this book is, read it.